The Send Silence Packing tour will display more than 1,000 backpacks representing the individual college students that lose their lives to suicide every year.
Several campus organizations, including Project OCEAN (On-campus Emergency Assistance Network) and the Active Minds chapter of Cal State Long Beach, are hosting the tour at the Speaker’s Platform lawn in front of the University Bookstore, Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students,” Rachelle Ang, caseworker in Disabled Student Services and Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) said. “It’s an issue no one talks about, but obviously it’s a problem.”
About 400 donated backpacks will be personalized in memory of students who have committed suicide. There will also be a section for backpacks that have been donated from groups on campus in memory of someone they knew.
On display will also be personal stories about those who committed suicide.
“[The number of suicides on our campus] on a yearly basis is closer to zero,” Brad Compliment, director of CAPS said. “Our work helps keep it such a low number and we want to keep it that way.”
The backpacks are meant to raise awareness of suicide at colleges and universities and to aid family, friends and classmates in suicide prevention.
“We don’t want to depress people,” Ang said. “We want them to know suicide can be prevented. If someone is in crisis, they can get help.”
The tour is based in Washington, D.C., where Active Minds’ headquarters are. This will be its first time in California.
CSULB is one of eight campuses that the Send Silence Packing Project will visit. Other campuses include Cal State University Chico, Chapman University, Claremont Colleges (Pitzer), College of the Desert, University of California, Irvine, UCLA and UC Riverside.
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